The 29-year-old son of Leo andMatilda Angulo of Oyam District in northern Uganda, Ambrose Angulo was born in the UK but his parents relocated back to Uganda to ensure that their children got a good African upbringing.

This second-born in a family of five went to school at Nswanjere Junior Seminary in Mubende, Kisubi tMinor Seminary and St Lawrence Creamland Campus before joining Uganda Christian University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies.

Love for art

His love for art was born in high school, and he emerged the best student in the nature painting paper during his A-levels.

“When I joined UCU in 2005, I decided to study Development Studies to complement my talent in art, and help develop others,” Angulo said.

At the university he continued practising art, and he also supplied craft shops with wall hangings.

“I used to work for various faculties at the university, printing students’ coursework, and certificates,” he said.

“When I attained a first class in my first year, I was awarded a scholarship, which helped me save money. I developed more interest in art, and worked hard to dispel the attitude that art is a less valuable course.”

After completing university, Ambrose still had the dream of changing people’s lives using art, but without funding it was an uphill task. To gain financial momentum, he joined a Kenyan firm as a research assistant and worked for two months.

He later worked with Crane Bank where his passion for art and photography was noted by the manager, who put him in charge of photography. He would print photos for clients who were opening accounts at the bank, and this helped him raise additional funds.

In 2010 he resigned from Crane Bank and ventured out on his own in a small office room given to him by his cousin, Compius Adoko.

The break-through

Angulo’s breakthrough did not come until 2011 during campaigns for the general elections when he was given the opportunity for large- scale digital printing.

“It was then that we got known throughout northern Uganda as the centre for photo-editing and making campaign posters,”he says.

Before the opening of Ambrosoli Wonders, quality digital printing was done in Kampala, which was expensive and manycould not afford the travel costs. Since then, many have joined the industry but we remain the dominant player.

“We import our machinery form Dubai and China because they have better quality machines compared to those available on the local market,” he adds.

“Change ofoffice location often due to landlord pushed us to construct our own offices.

“For example, 2015 was our worst year in terms of office space and operations since we had to closeoffice for two months aswork was going on at the newly acquired location, but now having our own building saves us fromrent andgives us stability,” Anguloreflects withconfidence.

“My ambition has been to provide jobs for young people and improve their lives,” he said.

Challenges

Currently Ambrosoli Wonders employs seven permanent and ten part time staff, including interns from institutions of higher learning. Since many graduates lack hands on experience, they give an opportunity to such students to gain the experience needed by employers. The interns get training in graphic design which enables them produce works that are relevant on the market today.

The various challenges that he has faced so far include the negative attitude that people have towards art and photography, which he says is demoralising.

“I want the public to see the value in art and to support those involved in the industry. Also, the exchangerate affects the business adversely, since the machines we use are imported,” he added.

Achievements and plans

Angulo has inspired others through his work. “I plan on opening up a trainingschoolfor fabricand tailoring so that we can produce clothes. We shall also train youth in, art, graphics design and computer knowledge,” Angulo says.

He also plans to expand the business and open branches in other districts within northern Uganda.

Tips for young people

Startinga business is not about money. It is aboutthe idea.

You don’tneed a loan to start a business. You only need a loan to expand.

Youth need to work hard. You can only earn what you sow. With this attitude, the youth can fight unemployment.

Have creative minds. Think outsidethe box.

Be innovative. Do something new for your business to develop and grow.

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At 11 years, Gloria Nawanyaga, a third-year student of Uganda Christian University (UCU) learnt the hard truth that she was HIV positive. However, despite the stigma that soon followed her new discovery, Nawanyaga never gave up on life. Today, she is Miss Y+ (Young Positives), a position that has enabled her restore hope among hundreds of young people living with HIV. She is also an ambassador with Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV.

This is her story

At 11 years, Nawanyaga, 18 became so curious at how frequent her mother would take her and her sibling to hospital every Thursday.

“I would ask her why she used to take us to the hospital and we would miss school sometimes. So one day, she took us out, bought [for] us drinks, and

then asked us if we knew about HIV/AIDS and I said yes even when I did know anything about it. Then she asked what I knew about HIV. I toldher that people with HIV are going to die.”

Nawanyaga’s reply scared her mother so much that it nearly stopped her from disclosing to them their HIV status. “She asked again what I would do if I found out that I had the disease. She then realised that I was heartbroken to be told the truth,” Nawanyanga recalls.

Noticing the psychological torture the revelation could cause, her mother decided to take them to Makerere University, John Hopkins University, a research collaboration that focuses on HIV, TB and takes care of children born with HIV by restoring hope in them.

“She thought it was right to take us there so that we would not feel lonely in this world. It was true because when we reached there and saw other kids, we felt some sense of relief. At least we were not alone.”

Stigma

After coming to terms with her status, Nawanyaga went back to school. But because she had to always go for medication, Nawanyanga used to skip school every Thursday. One day, a concerned teacher asked her why she was missing his classes on Thursday.

“I was scared to divulge my secret but he assured me of confidentiality, claiming that he was a counsellor and I could confide in him. So I opened up about my status but soon I regretted why I did because he went around telling everyone. It did not take long before the entire school knew [my status]. I faced stigma and segregation to the extent that I hated the school.”

Owing to the segregation and stigma, Nawanyaga went off her medication for two terms while in P7 because she was afraid of pupils laughing at her and asking if truly she was HIV positive.

“In P7, the school required that everyone had to join the boarding section, which to me was real hell because it would further expose me,” she said. “I went off my medication and I severely fell sick.”

“In S1 at Bethel High School, I continued to fall so sick that I was admitted at Joint Reach Centre (JRC) where Uganda Christian University, Kampala Campus, is now situated. I lost a lot of weight and became skinny and bonny. I could vomit everything I ate and took, including the medicine. My entire skin was filled witha terrible rash,” she recalls.

Nawanyaga recalls lying on a bed in between two patients, who later died. “I thought I was the next one,” she said.

But with God’s healing power, she recovered and became the talk of Bunga, aKampala suburb where she lived with her family.

“Some people alleged that I had had an abortion while others thought I was bewitched. I used to cover my entire body because I had black spots all over my body and I didn’t want people to see them,” she says.

At school, one of her female teachers got concerned and asked what could be the problem with her because sometimes she used to report with a cannula on her hands, for fear of stigma.

“I lied to her that I had blood cancer. However, later after the school administration learned about my HIV status, a teacher called me to the staffroom and told me to kneel down. Then she accused me of spreading HIV amongst the boys. Some boys started calling me silimu (AIDS). At that point I started hating myself. I hated my parents and blamed them for giving me the disease that had made people hate me that much. I wanted to commit suicide,” Nawanyaga recalls.

She stopped attending school and one day she wanted to take her life by swallowing a cell.

“But I was very prayerful. So one day I went to the backyard of our house where I usually went to hide and cry and I told God to show me a sign that he really existed so that I could not to kill myself. As I was buried in tears, I suddenly saw the rubbish that was near me start to burn. I was so scared that I ran away. I never thought of suicide again.”

Life at campus

“At campus, a female friend approached me to be her roommate. I obliged to it but I had not foreseen the implications of staying with her,” she says.

One day, her roommate’s boyfriend went through her suitcase and discovered that there were Anti Retrial Virus (ARV) tablets and my medical documents. It was a shock to them and in the middle of the semester, they decided to desert the room, claiming that she wanted to infect them with HIV.

They also went on to spread the information to the entire hostel and it was not long before everyone knew about her status.

Nawanyaga went away from the hostel for some time, but pondered about how long she would keep running away from the problem.

“I later returned to hostel and locked myself in the room, read like I had never before and I can assure you, that semester was my best performing semester,” she said.

Miss Y Positives

To prove thather nemesis would never defineher status in 2017, she went and contested for Miss Y+, organised by the Uganda Network of Young People Living with HIV (UNIPA) and won.

But at the time the auditions were going on, her father passed on.

“It was such a trying time for me and some of my friends thought I would not be able to go for the boot camp. But I asked God to reward me by making me win the pageant because I had gone through a lot already, and thankfully I won.”

The win bolstered Nawanyanga’s confidence to embrace her situation and freely speak out about her status with no self-pity.

“I accepted, loved and believed in myself more since then. And I take my medicine very well because that is who I am and that is what has kept me moving,” she said.

Wisdom tots

“If you are HIV-negative, please try to keep yourself safe because leading a positive life is not an easy thing. And for those already positive, it is not the end of life. You can be a better person and lead happy positive life.”

Nawanyaga is living a happy life and hopes to starta family as soon as she is sure ofit.

Sharon Mbabazi is the new talk of campus and the nation although not like Bad Black (the slay queen).Mababazi has become famous for laying bricks. Brick laying in Uganda is a men’s job.

The third child in a family of five, Mbabazi comes from Masooli village in Gayaza Division. She has been laying bricks for the last eight years to meet her school dues and other needs.

This job has earned her not only fame but she takes pride in the mud from which she mints money. “This is not the kind of job a girl of this renegade generation would pride in posting about on social media but I do,” she said.

Mbabazi’sfame came to the limelight recently when she posted her pictures while dressed in a tattered dirty shirt engraved in mud. The pictures went viral on social media with many Ugandans wondering whether it was a true story. She has since drawn local and international media attention.

Most girls in Uganda would pride in posting pictures at KFC, Garden City or fancy office setting.

The Genesis of Mbabazi

From Primary three Mbabazi watched her father Steven Ssemasaka, 55, laying bricks to fend for his family. As she grew up, Mbabazi began appreciating the value of playing in mud and slowly picked interest.

At only 10 years, she had started stepping in the mud and the learning process did not end until she mastered the art, which has become the source of her tuition and upkeep.

Left at the care of only her father after the death of her mother in 2005, Mbabazi was even ready to take on tougher jobs at a tender age.

Mbabazi’s father was mainly able to provide her daughter with a few basic needs such as food and education. She had to figure out her way through the rest of the needs such as pads, and the under ware.

“It was only from bricklaying that my children would be able to provide themselves with other basic needs. So I laid a foundation for them by teaching them how to do it,” said Mbabazi’sdad Ssemasaka, adding, “Right now, I am ageing and it is important that my children take over from where I have stopped.”

Mbabazi says the tough conditions at home consolidated her resolve to lay bricks. “Besides the challenges we had at home, I was always being sent home for school fees defaulting and the kids at school used to laugh at me. So I got tired of that situation and I made up my mind to start laying bricks.”

She adds: “I remember one time I did not have a nicker. So I went to one of the men who had laid bricks and asked him if I could help him organise his bricks so that he could pay me Shs1000.When he paid me, I used it to buy pair ofnickers.”

She revealed that she treasured that nicker a lot as she wore it from Primary Six until Senior Four. So she learnt the value of working to attain her own life.

After Senior Six in 2013, she took a dead year and sat home, looked for what to do but failed. However, when she was granted a half bursary at Mutesa I Royal University, Kampala Campus, she was supposed to raise the other half which prompted her to concentrate on bricklaying for a solution.

“There was no choice but to go back to bricklaying, the job has since helped me raise the tuition, buy myself other necessities and take care of my other siblings,” she said.

“I want to become somebody one day just to show those that used to laugh at me that what used to happen to me only made me stronger than they thought.”

Achievements from bricklaying

Besides paying her tuition and meeting her other needs, Mbabazi told The Standard that she has been able to install electricity in their small house, and she plans to construct a better house for her father and siblings.

“I don’t lack anything right now. Whatever I want I have hope I will get,” she said. “My bricks give me hope that I will get anywhere I want to be.”

Before she goes to school every day, Mbabazi together with her siblings lay 1000 bricks. However, this has come with its cost on her education such as being late to school sometimes, she says.

After every three months, Mbabazi says she is assured of making Shs1.5m from her bricks business although she said sometimes clients don’t want to pay up their dues. Also when it rains most of the bricks are damaged.

Future dreams

She said that she intends to expand her business to making concrete bricks which are more profitable than the ordinary bricks she makes out of soil.

An ordinary brick costs between Shs150 and Shs200 while the concrete one may cost about ten times more.

Mbabazi is pursuing a degree in Mass Communication and is in her third year.

Word of wisdom

“I want to tell my brothers and sisters who are complaining about lack of jobs to make themselves useful by doing something productive with themselves,” she said.

Mbabazi added: “Going on the street to cause chaos because you have no job is going to cost your family even more to treat you if you are injured, or bailing you from police. There is more to life than losing ourselves.”

In October 2016, Mitch Shalom’s life took a totally unexpected twist when she was involved in a road accident that claimed the lives of two people.

She survived narrowly,and was left for dead in the trench she landed in when a saloon car knocked the bodaboda she was on. She sustained five cracks on her skull, one stretching up to the ear! Together with her family and friends, they narrated her miraculous recovery to Francis Emukule.

The shocker

“On Tuesday at 3:15 pm I received a call informing me that my daughter had been involved in an accident,” she mother Florence Iwitung says.

“I did not know how to react to the shocking news, but I made my way to Life Link Hospital, Kyaliwajjala, where I found Shalom lying lifeless on a stretcher, having already beenpronounced dead by the doctors.

“When I entered the room, there was a lot of blood flowing from her ears, mouth and nose. There was no one attending to her and the doctor handed me the death certificate and told me she was dead!”

But Ms Iwutung was not about to accept the death of her daughter. She rejected the path of the undertaker.

“I tore the death certificate up, threw it back at him and told him I am not burying my daughter. I held Shalom and spoke to her body. I spoke to her because I knew she could hear me. I told her: ‘Whether you are in this body or not, I know you can hear me and if you are in there, you are not getting out’.”

She adds that she stood on her faith and invited God to come into the situation.

“I looked at the double doors with tears in my eyes, then told God to pass through the doors on His two feet, come in and preserve my daughter’s life because it is a curseto bury a child.”

After about an hour of prayer, she asked the doctors for an ambulance. She was told that Shalom had been referred to Mulago Hospital and the ambulance was on its way.

“Their idea was to take her to the mortuary but I told them to cancel that referral and change it to International Hospital Kampala (IHK).”

At this point, she had only Shs17,000 on her. The ambulance finally arrived at 8am the following morning. Iwutung suspects that the delay was intentional, to break her faith.

Another surprise awaited her, because the said ‘ambulance’ was actually a box body vehicle into which they dragged Shalom and began rotating around Kyaliwajjala, Ntinda, then to Shoprite Lugogo, wasting a whole hour on the way.

The stay at IHK

When they finally arrived at IHK, the doctors agreed to carry out a brain CT scan.

“When they did, the doctor screamed, “She is alive!”

“Her brain was 100 percent functional and the brain surgeon came out and told me he had two messages for me: the good and the bad. He said the bad was that she had sustained five cracks on the skull, one of them had gone through the ear and the skin on her brain had moved.

“He added that if she ever came back to life, it would take her five years to know her name. He went on to say that even when the wounds on the head healed, they would not guarantee her safety,” Ms Iwutung said.

For 21 days they were in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, on the 18th day the doctors told Iwutung that since Shalom was clinically dead before she was brought into the hospital, it was a waste of time and money (Shs1.8 millionper day) to sustain her in ICU.

Meanwhile, Shalom’s family members had moved in to stay at the hospital all this time. This was costly, and close to Shs60 million was spent.

“We received close to 900 people from all around the world who contributed to her care and ours. Some people did not know her, others did, but they all contributed. I remember even receiving Shs500 from my niece!

“I told the doctors that unless the brain function that had been detected in the CT scan stopped, he was not to disconnect her from life support,” Iwutung said.

On the 21st day, at 11:58am, Shalom opened her eyes. This was the second miracle after the CT scan report.

“However, the doctor said it was just a reflex action as it happens to a lot of people in coma. He was still trying to convince us that Shalom is not back, but when he looked at her open eyes, he noticed she was following our conversation!”

The coma aftermath

Shalom was later discharged from hospital. However, as a result of the accident she sustained multiple compound fractures in the right legfrom the big toe through the joint to above the knee. The doctors recommended that the leg be amputated because she would never walk again.

“They expressed worry that Shalom’s leg was going to rot, her skin on the leg had turned to black and was sticky. Every time you touched her, it would come off with your palm.

“But I told the doctors not to even think about it because if God had wanted one leg on her he would have given her one.”

Three days later, her skin began to get back to normal and two weeks later, the metal that was put in her leg to give it support was removed. She started to learn how to walk again and six months later, Shalom was able to even run.

However, due to the multiple cracks that she sustained in her skull, she developed abnormal mood swings and terrible headaches.

“If she was happy it would be too much and if she was sad she was so sad that she would be depressed and secluded from the rest.”

Two months after the accident, Shalom decided to go back to school even when the doctors recommended that she requests for a dead year for her full recovery.

“I managed to cope, but sometimes my brain would shut down in class and there would be nothing I could understand,” Shalom said.

The doctors had also warned that she would never remember anything from the accident, and that came to pass. In fact she could not remember most of her friends when she came out of the coma and today she still lives with the psychological torture of that terrible past.

“Sometimes when moving in a vehicle I start imagining a truck coming towards us to cause a head-on collision and kill us!”

A remarkable person

Prof. Augustine Senoga Wamala, a lecturer in comparative public policy describes Shalom as a determined, focused and resilient person who would not allow mishaps to deter her.

Mrs Olive Birabi, the Director, Students Affairs also noted that Shalom is a single-minded, persistent and tough person.

“Even when many people gave up, she did not. She has an amazing spirit and even with her circumstances she did not complain.”

Shalom graduated from UCU on July 6 with a Bachelor’s degree in Governance and International Relations havingattained a GPA of 3.0.Her mother, Iwutung, says that life is what you make it. She is firm in her faith in God, and credits Him for her daughter’s life.

Shalom is planning on pursuing her academic dream of doing a master’s inPeace and Human Rights.

Friends in need, friends indeed

Milly Mutoni, a friend, recounts that when she heard the news, she was in disbelief because earlier on in the day, she was with Shalom.

“I did not believe she would make it out of coma when I saw her in hospital. After she was discharged, however, I knew she would be well. We looked after her and hoped for the best,” Mutoni said.

“Sometimes she would really be rude to us, but we understood her state. And her willingness to learn despite the accident was the most amazing thing about her, although I had to repeat things for her over and over again,” adds Linda Tayebwa

“The stress of tests and coursework made Shalom suffer constant headaches, which often made her forget all the content discussed earlier. But her accident made me realize that life is short and precious. So I do not take small things for granted,” Tayebwa added.

News

The Democratic Party (DP) President General, Norbert Mao, has slammed Uganda Christian University students over anti-social lifestyles.

“These days people don’t even know their neighbours. I am sure those of you who live in hostels, don’t know who lives in the next room. I’m just telling you that you can’t have a citizenship where people are disconnected. Active citizenship is about strong family bonds and then voluntary associations,” Mao said.

Mao made the remarks while speaking at the 2018 UCU Law Society Symposium, held in Nkoyoyo Hall at the university’s main campus in Mukono on Thursday November 1.

Quoting from Alexis Detocqueville’s book, ‘Democracy in America,’ Mao said: “The current generations would not be able to voluntarily resolve problems in society if they keep relying on government that mostly seek to, “stupify people reducing them to nothing better than flock of timid and industrious sheep.

“I’m told the voter turnout here in the guild elections is very low. I don’t know whether the guild holds general assemblies where you can ask questions to the president! These are rhetorical questions. I’m just telling you that active citizenship is about being part of a community, whether it is a community of a boda-boda association. Why am I saying that? Because citizens must know their interests. And those interests must bring you together,” he said. “Without voluntary associations which connect people to their roots, life is meaningless.”

Mao urged the youths to exercise their voting rights at all levels and also express their opinions in writings, saying literature had such immense power to transform society and settle daily challenges like water shortages, electricity blackouts and poor road conditions.

The event took place under the theme: “The choice of taxing OTT and Mobile Money services as a tool of widening Uganda’s tax base.” It was addressed by several high-profile speakers including Uganda Law Society president, Simon Peter Kinobe, the human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo, NBS television journalist Raymond Mujuni, among others.

Mujuni criticised the government’s move to tax the citizens and not the multinational companies that repatriate billions of shillings to their countries every year. While Opiyo said the move was unconstitutional and in contravention of people’s human rights to freedom of speech, expression and association.

On Friday November 2,Uganda Christian University held its guild general elections for the academic year 2018/19. Students across the university’s five campuses voted for their new leaders to take the positions of Guild Presidents and Members of Parliament.

Bruce Mugisha Amanya emerged the winner for the position of guild president at the university’s main campus in Mukono after scoring at least 1,000 votes, trouncing his closest rival, Phillip Joshua Wanambwa, who scored 876 votes and Charlotte Mbabazi who scored 157.

Amanya said his victory was a result of earlier preparation, including mentorship by the university’s Vice Chancellor in charge of Development and External Relations, Mr David Mugawe.

He said during his tenure as UCU’s Guild President, he would advocate for market-ing of the university’s science courses, more support towards innovation and support for financially disadvantaged students to ensure that they don’t drop out of the university.

Amanya vowed to cut guild trips, especially abroad in order to save money and increase the amounts given to financially challenged students under the students guild fund programme.

On the polls day, there were some scuffles witnessed at a polling station at the Agape square where law and nursing students casted their votes from.

The scuffle arose when the electoral commission barred some students from voting on grounds that they were not fully registered for this semester. The student said, the act was however, contrary to an earlier published information by the commission which indicated that students who are both on and off semester could vote, especially for the position of Guild President.

The situation was, however, contained after a new voters’ list was brought and all students were permitted to exercise their voting rights.

The Electoral Commission’s publicist, Morris Twinamatsiko, said the problem was caused by a wrong list issued to the commission by the academics office which had only students who had fully cleared their tuition.

Amanya was declared winner at 11:45pm by the Commission’s chairperson, Deborah Akiteng. Celebrations erupted among his supporters who in his company immediately went for an after party at Cassablanca, a bar located along Bishop Tucker Road.

The new guild leadership will be sworn in on November 30.

Mbabazi conceded defeat while, Wanambwa said there was open voter bribery, tactical delay by the commission, especially at the law polling station where voting started only minutes before mid-day and even vote-stuffing, that were maliciously neglected by the commission. He, however, said he would not petition the commission but focus on his studies now.

Wanambwa rejects offer

Asked whether he would accept a cabinet offer under the up-coming guild government, Wanambwa said he would not.

“I was seeking to form a driving wheel where I would be the driving wheel rolling the chains but not the chain. To accept to serve under another leader means I will have to abandon my direction of thought which is totally different from his and adopt a new one which I don’t believe in,” Wanambwa said.

He was speaking with The Standard in an interview on Wednesday November 7, at the main campus in Mukono.

“If you are meant to be great, you will always be. If it is about serving the students, I have been serving as Class Rep (representative) until the eve of the elections. I have been and still I am an R.A (Residential Assistant),” he added.

Wanambwa said he is still an active member of several fellowship groups and asso-ciations where he can still invest his leadership skills and continue to serve the students without contradicting his belief.

His rejection follows an earlier suggestion by the Guild President-elect, Bruce Mugi-sha Amanya, who told The Standard in an interview on Saturday, November 3 that he was considering absorbing his rivals into his government since they all had expressed interest in serving the students.

“To my colleagues I hope they will accept the appointments in good faith if they come because they had all expressed interest in serving the students and I believe we should work together,” Amanya said.

However, Charlotte Mbabazi, said she would take the offer if given because she is, “a leader whose only focus is to serve.”

Basoga Nseete Students Association are the winners of the 2018 Uganda Christian University (UCU) Students’ Cultural Gala.

The association was pronounced winner at the event held on Saturday, October 20 at Nkoyoyo Hall, after garnering 414 marks out of 500. They beat their closest rivals and defending champions, the Acholi students community, with a meagre two marks.

Celebrations among members of the winning team erupted around Nkoyoyo Hall as soon as the announcement was made.

Brian Wabwire, the Basoga Nseete association’s chairperson, said the victory was a resurrection of their group, having had some crises and missed the gala for the last two years.

“We feel blessed by the victory. We had been down for the last two years and the spirit of identifying ourselves as Basoga had really disappeared. But with this win, we are proud again to identify ourselves as Basoga,” Wabwire said.

He attributed their victory to tireless efforts put by the participants, team spirit and the broad nature of the Basoga culture that cannot be exhausted within a short time.

Wabwire encouraged students from the other tribal associations to focus, plan ahead, work hard and unite so that they may also taste the joy of such victory in future.

Before their disqualification in 2016, Basoga Nseete was a two-time winner of the gala in 2014 and 2015.

At least 13 cultural groups participated in this year’s gala, including the international students who were the last in the queue. Third in performance were the Bakonjo, followedby theLangi and the Baganda settled for the fifth position.

The Cultural Gala, themed, “The Road to Cultural Marriage” was opened by the Busoga Kingdom Attorney General, Robert Kafuko.

Kafuko advised parents to play their roles fully in raising children.

“Partners should sit down and agree on how do to do this,” Kafuko said.

The first performance on the stage was a poem performed in Atesot. After the poem, the Basamia went on stage for their folk song. Among the other performers, came the Acholi with a cultural mime. The Bakonjo did a traditional song and the Bamasaba did a poem though there was a bit of confusion between the participants.

The Baganda performed a folk song that caused excitement in the audience because one of the characters dressed like “Bosco” of the popular MTN advert. The Karimojong also presented a traditional dance that caused excitement from the crowd because of their dance moves.

The International students led by the Congolese showcased their cultural dress while the Nigerians did a poem. This is the first time the international students performed in the Cultural Gala.

Among the awards given was the Outstanding Performer. This was taken by Charity Auma from Lango. She was crowned ‘Miss Culture.’ ‘Mr Culture’ was Ivan Masaba from Busoga. The best actor was Erodad Nemo from Busoga and the best actress was Peace Buraka from Kasese.The best male dancer was Asuman Kizito from Buganda. The other participants who won some prizes were Rachael Akello, Derrick Abaro Orana, Williamson Barongo, and Steven Muhangi.

While delivering their verdict, the five adjudicators commended the student community for keeping the gala traditional even amidst heavy forces of evolution. Alison Nadungu, one of the adjudicators, said, “Africans are the only people who were not allowed to evolve naturally due to colonial interruption.”

Nadungu said now that Africans have the chance to get back to their roots, they should do more research about their cultures anddo everything within their power to sustain and promote the cultures.

The Director of Students’ Affairs, Olive Birabi Ayo, also told the students that there is something special about every culture that must be observed and appreciated.

Ayo encouraged students who missed participating in this years’ event to consider doing so in the future as a way of identifying with their culture and showing pride.

The guild Minister for Cultural Affairs, Solomon Egwar, described the event as a “success” and “one of the best in the history of UCU” because of the theme of cultural marriage which he said many students identified with.

Egwar said, unlike in the past years when the post-event period would be marred by complaints, this year’s event has registered only one complaint from the Nkobazambogo, the Buganda students’ association, which alleged that they deserved a better position than they got. Nkobazambogo were put in the fifth position after the Bakonjo (third position) and Langi (fourth position).

He said this was because of the independent nature of the external adjudicators whose jurisdictions were also limited to only one activity per person.

Egwar thanked the university authorities for all the support for the gala and urged them to consider, in future, releasing the themes for the event early enough in order to give students enough time to prepare.